- Full name Zachary Bishop Root
- Born 02/06/2004 in Fort Myers, FL
- Profile Ht.: 6'1" / Wt.: 177 / Bats: L / Throws: L
- School East Carolina
-
Drafted in the 1st round (40th overall) by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2025 (signed for $2,197,500).
View Draft Report
School: Arkansas Drafted/Committed: Never Drafted
Age At Draft: 21.4
BA Grade: 50/High
Root pitched as a reliable starter for two seasons for East Carolina in 2023 and 2024 before transferring to Arkansas for his 2025 junior year. The jump from American Athletic to Southeastern Conference competition didn’t phase him. Root was a consistent starter all year for one of the best pitching staffs in the country and posted a 3.62 ERA over 19 starts and 99.1 innings with a career-high 30% strikeout rate and an 8.3% walk rate. At 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, Root has a filled-out physique and a funky delivery that features a steep tilt in his leg lift and a three-quarters arm slot. He has a deep arsenal and impressive feel to land his secondaries. He added a tick of velocity to his fastball in 2025 and sits around 93 mph but will touch 98. The fastball has never been a consistent swing-and-miss pitch for Root. Instead he goes to curveball, changeup and slider to miss barrels. Root’s 78-82 mph curveball has solid depth and 1-to-7 shape that he uses at a high clip versus lefthanded and righthanded hitters alike. He favors his mid-80s changeup as a third piece against righthanded hitters and a harder, mid-80s slider that has a cutter look in the upper 80s against lefties. Each of his secondaries are at least average, and Root ties together the entire mix with above-average control. Root is a high-probability starter with back-of-the-rotation upside and fits solidly inside the first two rounds.
Scouting Grades: Fastball: 50 | Slider: 50 | Curveball: 55 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 55.
Top Rankings
Organization Prospect Rankings
-
BA Grade/Risk: 50/Average
Adjusted Grade: 40
Track Record: With the 40th and 41st picks in the 2025 draft, the Dodgers went hog wild, selecting Root and outfielder Charles Davalan consecutively out of Arkansas. Root started his career with two seasons at East Carolina before transferring to Arkansas for his junior year. With the Razorbacks, Root went 9-6 and racked up 126 strikeouts in 99.1 innings while helping lead his team to within a game of the College World Series finals. The Dodgers signed Root for $2,197,500 and shut him down for the rest of the year.
Scouting Report: Root works with a full four-pitch complement and adds deception thanks to a funky delivery that contains a high leg lift and a three-quarters arm slot. His arsenal is fronted by a sinking fastball in the mid 90s and backed by a potentially above-average curveball and changeup as well as a slider that could be an average pitch. The latter breaking ball features 1-to-7 break and was used against both lefties and righties, and the Dodgers would like to see Root throw his changeup more as a professional than he did in college. The biggest questions about Root revolve around how many bats he’ll miss as he moves up the minor league ladder. He was less a bat-misser than a barrel-misser in college, and the Dodgers will consider adding a four-seam fastball to his mix to help him get whiffs up in the zone. Despite all of its moving parts, Root maintains and repeats his delivery well, which gives evaluators confidence that he’ll get to above-average control in the big leagues.
The Future: Root’s college pedigree means he’ll likely start his pro career at High-A Great Lakes. There, he’ll work on shaping his arsenal into that of a big league starter. He has a chance to pitch at the back end of a rotation in a few years.
Scouting Grades Fastball: 50 | Curveball: 55 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 55.
Draft Prospects
-
School: Arkansas Drafted/Committed: Never Drafted
Age At Draft: 21.4
BA Grade: 50/High
Root pitched as a reliable starter for two seasons for East Carolina in 2023 and 2024 before transferring to Arkansas for his 2025 junior year. The jump from American Athletic to Southeastern Conference competition didn’t phase him. Root was a consistent starter all year for one of the best pitching staffs in the country and posted a 3.62 ERA over 19 starts and 99.1 innings with a career-high 30% strikeout rate and an 8.3% walk rate. At 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, Root has a filled-out physique and a funky delivery that features a steep tilt in his leg lift and a three-quarters arm slot. He has a deep arsenal and impressive feel to land his secondaries. He added a tick of velocity to his fastball in 2025 and sits around 93 mph but will touch 98. The fastball has never been a consistent swing-and-miss pitch for Root. Instead he goes to curveball, changeup and slider to miss barrels. Root’s 78-82 mph curveball has solid depth and 1-to-7 shape that he uses at a high clip versus lefthanded and righthanded hitters alike. He favors his mid-80s changeup as a third piece against righthanded hitters and a harder, mid-80s slider that has a cutter look in the upper 80s against lefties. Each of his secondaries are at least average, and Root ties together the entire mix with above-average control. Root is a high-probability starter with back-of-the-rotation upside and fits solidly inside the first two rounds.
Scouting Grades: Fastball: 50 | Slider: 50 | Curveball: 55 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 55. -
School: Arkansas Committed/Drafted: Never Drafted
Age At Draft: 21.4
BA Grade/Risk: 45/High
Root followed up what was a solid freshman season for East Carolina in 2023 with a breakout sophomore campaign in 2024 when he pitched his way to a 3.56 ERA with 76 strikeouts in 68.1 innings. He has a funky delivery and attacks from a three-quarters slot. Root’s fastball has been up to 96-97 mph, but its shape is rather generic and it doesn’t miss a ton of bats. Both his slider and changeup—especially the change—have consistently flashed plus and generated whiff rates north of 45% during the 2024 season. He transferred to Arkansas for the 2025 season.
Scouting Grades Fastball: 50 | Slider: 50 | Curveball: 45 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 50 -
School: Fort Myers (Fla.) HS Committed/Drafted: East Carolina
Age At Draft: 18.5
An athletic and unconventional looking lefthander, Root has gotten taller and stronger over the last year or so and his stuff followed that upward trend as well this spring. After pitching in the upper 80s and touching 90 last summer and fall, Root has gotten his fastball up to 93 mph. He has also thrown a breaking ball in the mid-to-upper 70s and a changeup in the 78-80 mph range—both of which have a chance to be average pitches and flash above-average. Root is an uncomfortable at-bat for hitters, with deception in his delivery thanks to significant tilt in his leg lift and a fast arm from a three-quarter slot. There’s a bit of head whack in his finish, but in general he receives good reviews for his control. Root is committed to East Carolina but has trended in the right direction and has plenty of positive indicators.
Career Transactions
-
ACL Dodgers activated LHP Zachary Root.
-
LHP Zachary Root assigned to ACL Dodgers.
-
Los Angeles Dodgers signed LHP Zachary Root.
- LHP Zach Root assigned to East Carolina Pirates.